Proverbs 6:5
in Proverbs 6Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, And as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
KJV
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
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This verse in Proverbs 6
Commentary
6 notes on this verseDeliver thyself as a roe - צבי tsebi, the antelope. If thou art got into the snare, get out if thou possibly canst; make every struggle and excertion, as the antelope taken in the net, and the bird taken in the snare would, in order to get free from thy captivity.
This site's exposition
struck hands in pledge with a stranger
on Proverbs 6:1-5
A son has “put up security for your neighbor” and “struck hands in pledge with a stranger,” and his own promise holds him fast. The son must break free at once, “like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,” putting safety before pride.
This site's exposition
like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter
The Hebrew word is tsebi, the gazelle or antelope, an animal that lives by flight. Clarke pictures it caught in the net and struggling with all its strength until it breaks free. The son is to fight the pledge the same way.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Deliver yourself like a gazelle from the hand, etc. Just as a gazelle seeks to escape from the hand of the captor, strive so much that, with your listener being healthily instructed, you are freed from the surety of his life. Or certainly, because the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Delays are dangerous, and feeble efforts will not serve." See what care God, in his word, has taken to make men good husbands of their estates, and to teach them prudence in the management of them. Godliness has precepts, as well as promises, relating to the life that now is. But how are we to understand this?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter,....
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִ֭נָּצֵל | hinatzel | deliver yourself | H5337 → | 212 times |
| כִּצְבִ֣י | kitzvi | like a gazelle | H6643 → | |
| מִיָּ֑ד | miyad | from a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וּ֝כְצִפּ֗וֹר | ukhetzipor | and like a bird | H6833 → | 40 times |
| מִיַּ֥ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| יָקֽוּשׁ׃ פ | yakush | a fowler | H3353 → |
הִ֭נָּצֵלdeliver yourself
hinatzelH5337 →212 times
כִּצְבִ֣יlike a gazelle
kitzviH6643 →
מִיָּ֑דfrom a hand
miyadH3027 →1618 times
וּ֝כְצִפּ֗וֹרand like a bird
ukhetziporH6833 →40 times
מִיַּ֥דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
יָקֽוּשׁ׃ פa fowler
yakushH3353 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 91:3Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
it leads to
- Psalms 124:7
We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
- Psalms 141:9
Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, and from the lures of evildoers.
- Proverbs 7:23
until an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare—not knowing it will cost him his life.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 5:10–22
He gives rain to the earth and sends water upon the fields.
- Psalms 124:7
Through
Psalms 124:7We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowler; the net is torn, and we have slipped away.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 2:26
Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 91:3
Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
- Psalms 25:15
My eyes are always on the LORD, for He will free my feet from the mesh.
- 1 Samuel 25:29
And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling…
- 2 Timothy 2:26
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.